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HIGHLY
displeased and worried it will negatively affect the
good image of Filipino doctors, Health Secretary
Francisco Duque on Wednesday said he will demand from
the producers of the Desperate Housewives TV
series an explanation for an insulting line about
medical schools in the
Philippines.
Duque
was referring to a scene where Susan Mayer, played by
actress Teri Hatcher, was about to be examined by a
doctor. She asked for the man’s credentials, saying,
“Can I check those diplomas? ‘Coz I just want to make
sure that they’re not from some med school in the
Philippines.”
Even as
Duque was expostulating on the incident, the Department
of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced it has filed a formal
protest with the American television network ABC that is
airing the series.
The
episode drew a lot of criticism from Filipinos here and
abroad after it was posted on YouTube.
Dr. Jose
Sabili, president of the Philippine Medical Association,
said he will urge his counterparts in the US to demand
an apology from the people behind the TV series.
Sabili,
who was attending the World Medical Associations General
Assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark, said he will seek to
meet with the president of the American Medical
Association to get support to compel the TV producers to
issue an apology for the insulting remark.
Philippine consul general to Los Angeles Mary Jo Aragon
wrote the ABC television producer of the show to express
the displeasure of the Philippines over the remarks.
“The
remark only served to create racial stereotypes,
tainting unnecessarily the excellent record of
Philippine-trained health-care professionals all over
the world,” said
Aragon
in a statement issued by the DFA.
Aragon
had told the show producers that Philippine medical
professionals are highly regarded everywhere, including
the US, which recognizes the academic standards of the
Philippine medical and nursing schools and where a great
number of them are practicing.
“Many
foreigners, including the Americans, choose to undergo
surgical and other medical procedures in the Philippines
or by Filipino surgeons in America in recognition of the
high quality of their medical skills,” said Aragon in
asking the show’s producer “to rectify the injustice” to
Philippine medical professionals.
The
diplomatic protest was based on the information on the
blog of entertainment writer Ruben Nepales titled “The
Nepales Report,” where he reported the insulting
scene. |
